HOTEL ALMIRANTE CARTAGENA ESTELAR, IN CARTAGENA DE INDIAS

If you are ever visiting Colombia, make sure you visit Cartagena de Indias. It is a lovely city by the sea. We chose to stay in the Almirante Cartagena Estelar Hotel, which is in a safe area, Bocagrande, where many other hotels are.

The hotel is new, modern in the outside, and it seems it used an old building that is preserved inside. So far so good...

Checking in, was very slow. We were in a group and it took ages to go through the queue and the checking procedure, that even asked me to get my computer out to write down the serial number. It seems they may have had some problems in the past... Hence, security is very tight. You need to go up the stairs to the second floor to access the main lifts that will take you to the rooms. And you need to get past the security person, that will require you to identify yourself, before allowing you in the lift. The lift, however, requires you to put the room key in, so no one without a key would be allowed in.

The room (604) was big, but clrealy, old fashioned. The good thing was the views, as it over look the beach and gifted you with nice sunsets. The bed was big and comfortable, with a choice of pillows (two hard, two soft). The fridge, however, had to be plugged off as it was extremely noisy. The room itself could do with a better isolation, as you could hear clearly what was going on out in the street. And also, the general aircon or ventilation system was present as a soft constant noise.

Toilet was spartan. A wide bath with a fix shower. As for toiletries, it was rather complete. It even had a mouthwash, which is normally not there. On the contrary, a shaver, toothbrush and deodorant were included in the offer of the minibar, therefore, at a cost.

TV as also very old, (of course, not flat screen) and had a variety of TV channels. The hotel had a Gym and a pool too. Good thing: Free Wireless Internet connection for the duration of your stay, after requesting for user name and password.

Breakfast was so, so. It had a wide variety of things to choose from, mainly local dishes. The lady who did my omelette, tried hard... but in the end, it came out to be more like scrambled eggs. Fruit was delicious (mainly pineapple) and juices were really watered, therefore, hardly tasty. As for the coffee... I don't know whether to say this. Let's say the coffee was not Colombia standard. It was more like British coffee (with due respect). It was horrendous. Thank god, round the corner you had a Juan Valdes Coffee shop where the good coffee was available.

It is a very basic 5 star hotel... More like a 3-4 star hotel.

HOTEL ALMIRANTE CARTAGENA ESTELAR

Av.San Martín, Calle 6 Esquina

Bocagrande

Cartagena

Colombia

Tel: +57 (5) 6658811

Fax: +57 (5) 6658269

Central de Reservas en Bogotá: +57 (1) 608 8080 / +57 (1) 5931900

Toll Free Colombia :018000-978000

Toll Free Canadá y USA: 18665998703

E-Mail: reservas@hotelesestelar.com